Brazil a soybean powerhouse, but corn yields lag

Soybean production in Brazil may rival the United States, but farmers there take an entirely different approach to growing corn, an Iowa Farm Bureau study team found recently during a two-week tour of the South American country.

Brazil ranks third worldwide in corn production and second in corn exports, but it will take significant changes in management and infrastructure to raise corn yields that currently average about 80 bushels per acre, said Ross Payne, a district sales manager for AgriGold in Decorah, who was among 22 Farm Bureau members participating in the study tour March 21-April 4.

Nearly 60 percent of Brazil’s corn production comes from the second-season, or safrinha crop, usually planted after soybeans.

The idea of second-crop corn in Brazil...

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